Shark bites UM student in the Bahamas: 'I could feel his teeth sinking into my arm'

Katarina Zarutskie / Courtesy

University of Miami student Katarina Zarutskie, 19, suffered a wrist injury after a nurse shark bit her left arm and pulled her down during a trip to the Bahamas with her boyfriend.

University of Miami student Katarina Zarutskie, 19, suffered a wrist injury after a nurse shark bit her left arm and pulled her down during a trip to the Bahamas with her boyfriend. (Katarina Zarutskie / Courtesy)

A University of Miami student who was bitten by a nurse shark in the Bahamas this summer is recovering from the attack.

Katarina Zarutskie, 19, endured a wrist injury after a nurse shark bit her left arm and pulled her down during a trip to the Bahamas with her boyfriend, according to media reports.

“I’ve been on so many different medications,” she told WSVN-Ch. 7 this week.

Despite warnings from her boyfriend and his family, the nursing student and native of California had purposely gone into the water, which had nurse sharks — known to be harmless to humans — swimming nearby.

“From my previous knowledge from surfing and scuba diving, I know nurse sharks are usually very safe," she told the BBC. “I've seen countless photos of people with them on Instagram.”

The outlet said her boyfriend’s father was taking a photo of her as she floated near the sharks when one of them attacked.

“He had my wrist in his mouth and I could feel his teeth sinking into my arm," Zarutskie told NBC News. “I was pulled underwater for a few seconds and then ripped my wrist out of the shark’s mouth as fast as I could."

She told WPLG-Ch. 10 that doctors told her that she still has shark teeth fragments in her arm.

Would she swim with sharks again? She said she doesn’t regret it and would do it again.

“Sharks are wonderful creatures and beautiful but you really need to respect them in their home and maybe not lean back,’’ she told the Miami ABC affiliate.